Westfield, MA --- Coming off a solid race last week at Franklin Park in Boston, the Worcester State Men's Cross Country Team did as well as they expected to do at the MASCAC conference meet on Saturday 10/25/08.
Hoping to have the right race at the right time, the Lancers raced well again this week and reached some of the team and individual goals set in preparation for the championships. In a season hampered by a number of difficulties, including several injuries and the subsequent loss of personnel, the squad has seen steady improvements through the season and did so again at the MASCACs. In this rebuilding year for Worcester State, the team had to settle for a fifth place team finish in a very competitive race in which the top three teams were within 6 points of each other. Despite the adversity this season, the Lancers have remained competitive.
Team leader, Forest Wilber, finished second overall in a time of 26:07.26 after losing a tough head to head battle for the individual title. Chris Mancuso had one of his best collegiate races finishing 16th overall and just missing breaking the 28 minute barrier with a 28:01.40 effort over the 8K course. Andrew Rossi, who returned to racing after sitting out several races, was impressive in his return, and contributed greatly with a solid race to become the third Lancer finisher in the race.
Sophomore RJ Stahelski was also impressive, running his career best time over any 8K course to finish 31 seconds faster than his previous best time. Stahelski, more of a middle distance runner, has made great efforts to improve his performances over the longer distances and has begun to see the fruit of his labors. Rounding out the top five was Norman Everett, who despite fighting a bad cold, gave the team his best. This was the first race this season that Everett was unable to race to improvement.
The squad will return to Stanley Park next week for the Alliance Conference Meet. It will be an opportunity to better the times run this week in a race that will feature another highly competitive field.
Release Courtesy of Al Halper --- Men's Cross Country Coach